1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to ultrasonic surgical systems and more particularly, to controlling the output displacement of an ultrasonic surgical hand piece based on the xe2x80x9cphase marginxe2x80x9d which is the difference between the resonant frequency and the anti-resonant frequency.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known that electric scalpels and lasers can be used as a surgical instrument to perform the dual function of simultaneously effecting the incision and hemostatis of soft tissue by cauterizing tissues and blood vessels. However, such instruments employ very high temperatures to achieve coagulation, causing vaporization and fumes as well as splattering, which increases the risk of spreading infectious diseases to operating room personnel. Additionally, the use of such instruments often results in relatively wide zones of thermal tissue damage.
Cutting and cauterizing of tissue by means of surgical blades vibrated at high speeds by ultrasonic drive mechanisms is also well known. One of the problems associated with such ultrasonic cutting instruments is uncontrolled or undamped vibrations and the heat as well as material fatigue resulting therefrom. In an operating room environment attempts have been made to control this heating problem by the inclusion of cooling systems with heat exchangers to cool the blade. In one known system, for example, the ultrasonic cutting and tissue fragmentation system requires a cooling system augmented with a water circulating jacket and means for irrigation and aspiration of the cutting site. Another known system requires the delivery of cryogenic fluids to the cutting blade.
It is known to limit the current delivered to the transducer as a means for limiting the heat generated therein. However, this could result in insufficient power to the blade at a time when it is needed for the most effective treatment of the patient. U.S. Pat. No. 5,026,387 to Thomas, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application and is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a system for controlling the heat in an ultrasonic surgical cutting and hemostasis system without the use of a coolant, by controlling the drive energy supplied to the blade. In the system according to this patent an ultrasonic generator is provided which produces an electrical signal of a particular voltage, current and frequency, e.g. 55,500 cycles per second. The generator is connected by a cable to a hand piece which contains piezoceramic elements forming an ultrasonic transducer. In response to a switch on the hand piece or a foot switch connected to the generator by another cable, the generator signal is applied to the transducer, which causes a longitudinal vibration of its elements. A structure connects the transducer to a surgical blade, which is thus vibrated at ultrasonic frequencies when the generator signal is applied to the transducer. The structure is designed to resonate at the selected frequency, thus amplifying the motion initiated by the transducer.
The signal provided to the transducer is controlled so as to provide power on demand to the transducer in response to the continuous or periodic sensing of the loading condition (tissue contact or withdrawal) of the blade. As a result, the device goes from a low power, idle state to a selectable high power, cutting state automatically depending on whether the scalpel is or is not in contact with tissue. A third, high power coagulation mode is manually selectable with automatic return to an idle power level when the blade is not in contact with tissue. Since the ultrasonic power is not continuously supplied to the blade, it generates less ambient heat, but imparts sufficient energy to the tissue for incisions and cauterization when necessary.
The control system in the Thomas patent is of the analog type. A phase lock loop that includes a voltage controlled oscillator, a frequency divider, a power switch, a match net and a phase detector, stabilizes the frequency applied to the hand piece. A microprocessor controls the amount of power by sampling the frequency current and voltage applied to the hand piece, because these parameters change with load on the blade.
The power versus load curve in a generator in a typical ultrasonic surgical system, such as that described in the Thomas patent has two segments. The first segment has a positive slope of increasing power, as the load increases, which indicates constant current delivery. The second segment has a negative slope of decreasing power as the load increases, which indicates a constant or saturated output voltage. The regulated current for the first segment is fixed by the design of the electronic components and the second segment voltage is limited by the maximum output voltage of the design. This arrangement is inflexible since the power versus load characteristics of the output of such a system can not be optimized to various types of hand piece transducers and ultrasonic blades. The performance of traditional analog ultrasonic power systems for surgical instruments is affected by the component tolerances and their variability in the generator electronics due to changes in operating temperature. In particular, temperature changes can cause wide variations in key system parameters such as frequency lock range, drive signal level, and other system performance measures.
In order to operate an ultrasonic surgical system in an efficient manner, during startup the frequency of the signal supplied to the hand piece transducer is swept over a range to locate the resonance frequency. Once it is found, the generator phase lock loop locks on to the resonance frequency, keeps monitoring of the transducer current to voltage phase angle and maintains the transducer resonating by driving it at the resonance frequency. A key function of such systems is to maintain the transducer resonating across load and temperature changes that vary the resonance frequency.
The prior art ultrasonic generator systems have little flexibility with regard to amplitude control, which would allow the system to employ adaptive control algorithms and decision making. For example, these fixed systems lack the ability to make heuristic decisions with regards to the output drive, e.g., current or frequency, based on the load on the blade and/or the current to voltage phase angle. It also limits the system""s ability to set optimal transducer drive signal levels for consistent efficient performance, which would increase the useful life of the transducer and ensure safe operating conditions for the blade. Further, the lack of control over amplitude and frequency control reduces the system""s ability to perform diagnostic tests on the transducer/blade system and to support troubleshooting in general.
Moreover, using different handpieces with an ultrasonic surgical system could lead to performance problems. Different hand pieces of similar design have variations of output displacement within a certain ragne of input current to the hand piece. Excessive or improper displacement can result in the discarding of hand pieces due to poor performance or damaged blades.
Further, over time, hand piece performance can vary due to aging, environmental exposure, number of uses and the like.
Therefore, there is a general need in the art for an improved system and method for controlling the output displacement in an ultrasonic surgical hand piece which overcomes these and other disadvantages in the prior art.
The correlation of phase margin with output displacement of an ultrasonic hand piece is used to set the output current for a specific hand pieces to achieve desired hand piece displacement.
In an illustrative embodiment of the invention, a frequency sweep is conducted to find the resonant frequency and the anti-resonant frequency for the hand piece. The resonant frequency is measured at a point during the frequency sweep where the impedance of the hand piece is at its minimum. The anti-resonant frequency is measured at a point during the frequency sweep where the impedance of the hand piece is at its maximum. The phase margin, which is the difference between the resonant frequency and the anti-resonant frequency, is calculated. Using a target or specific output displacement, a drive current is calculated based on the phase margin which is stored in the hand piece. The hand piece is caused to be driven so as to maintain this displacement by accordingly controlling the current output from the generator console for driving the hand piece.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, the hand piece and the ultrasonic generator are caused to go through a calibration process for setting the drive current based on the correlation of the phase margin with the output displacement. During the calibration process, a frequency sweep is conducted to find the resonant frequency and the anti-resonant frequency for the hand piece. The phase margin is then calculated. Using a target or specific output displacement, a drive current is calculated based on the phase margin which is stored in the hand piece. During operation of the hand piece, the memory in the hand piece is accessed and a particular drive current for driving the hand piece is selected based on the correlation of the output displacement with the phase margin. The hand piece is caused to be driven with the output displacement, by accordingly controlling the current output from the generator console for driving the hand piece.